Pollutants 'damage sperm'

Manmade chemicals in the environment may be damaging sperm, a European Union backed study has found.

But there is no evidence the toxins are harming fertility, according to lead author Dr Marcello Spano of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment.

The chemicals under suspicion, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have been phased out of use but persist in the environment for decades.

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Millions of tonnes of PCBs were produced in the 1950s and 1960s for hundreds of industrial and commercial applications including paint, plastic and rubber manufacture.

The study focussed on more than 700 men: 193 Inuits from Greenland, 178 Swedish fishermen, 141 men from Warsaw in Poland and 195 men from Kharkiv in Ukraine.

Their sperm was tested for levels of DNA damage, blood samples were checked for PCB contamination, and details of their lifestyle, occupation and reproductive history were analysed.

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The results were surprising and rather contradictory. Among the European men, levels of sperm DNA damage increased with PCB levels in the blood.

But there was no association between PCB exposure and DNA damage in the Inuit men.

The scientists speculate that other factors, such as genetic background or lifestyle, may neutralise the effect of the pollutants in this group. Another possible explanation is that the study only measured two of around 200 possible toxins.

"We are seeing only the tip of the iceberg", Dr Spano said.

Despite the contradiction the findings must be taken as a warning, his team argues, highlighting the need for further research.

However, Dr Spano stressed that the results must be kept in perspective. The overwhelming majority of the men in the study were fertile and the average level of damaged sperm was just ten per cent.

The chances of becoming a father only starts to drop when the proportion of damaged sperm reaches about 20 per cent. From about 30 per cent the likelihood of conception becomes negligible.

So it is men who already have an elevated proportion of defective sperm that will face infertility as a result of PCB exposure, Dr Spano said.

Further research investigating the time taken to achieve pregnancy is already underway.

But Dr Spano is keen to collect data on the exposure of unborn babies to these pollutants. This form of contamination could be far more important given the belief the chemicals disrupt hormones, he argues.

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